The Russian steel producer Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) plans to officially commission its new plate rolling mill 5000 on July 17, 2009, two days before Metallurgists' Day in Russia.
Currently, MMK is continuing the construction of its plate mill 5000 and the installation of its new continuous slab concaster No. 6, both supplied by Austria-based plantmaker SMS Demag. The new mill is to produce plates of 4,850 mm width and of X100-X120 strength characteristics for the oil and gas, shipbuilding, bridge building and machine building industries. The mill's annual capacity will be 1.5 million mt, including 300,000 mt of thermally treated steel plates. The total cost of MMK's plate mill project amounts to $1.4 billion.
Moreover, at the beginning of February, within the framework of their strategic cooperation agreement up to 2015, MMK held a meeting with the Russian pipe producer Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ). The pipemaker expressed its readiness to cooperate with MMK and manifested interest in its plate mill 5000 products, which are to be used for the production of large diameter pipes at its pipe mill 1420, which is currently under construction.
In addition, the Russian oil transportation company Transneft, which transports about 93 percent of the country's oil, has also shown interest in MMK's plate mill project, and intends to use the mill's high technology products for its pipeline production.